Homeless man assaulted same deputy two years before

BY LEVI PULKKINEN, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

Published 10:43 pm, Thursday, April 17, 2014

A Vashon Island martial arts instructor who turned to drugs is accused of attacking police there for the second time.

King County prosecutors contend Christopher Ervin attacked a King County Sheriff’s Office deputy on April 9 after the deputy found him in the road shouting at passing cars. Ervin, 36, was convicted of assaulting the same deputy in 2012.

Shortly after 9:30 p.m., deputies were called to the 17700 block of Vashon Highway Southwest after receiving reports that Ervin was yelling at and jumping in front of cars. They arrived to find him running in the road, gesticulating wildly, while screaming unintelligibly.

Spotting the deputies, Ervin darted inside the Red Bicycle Bar. When one deputy followed, Ervin is alleged to have tried to flee, only to be intercepted by a second deputy waiting outside the bar’s front door.

Handcuffed and placed in a patrol car, Ervin kicked out the cruiser’s rear window, a Sheriff’s Office detective said in charging papers. A deputy then removed Ervin from the car, hoping to calm him down.

According to charging papers, Ervin remained irate and told the deputy – whom he was previously convicted of spitting on – that the deputy would pay for his “crimes.” Concerned that Ervin was going to expectorate again, the deputy pulled a spit mask over Ervin’s face.

Ervin fought with deputies, who ultimately pinned him against the hood of the damaged cruiser, the detective said in charging papers. Ervin is alleged to have then caught one of the deputies in a leg lock.

“When both officers tried to calm the defendant – who holds a black belt in tae kwon do and used to teach martial arts before turning to drugs – (he) began to physically resist the officers, wrapping his leg around (the deputy’s) leg and causing considerable pain,” Deputy Prosecutor Jacob Brown said in court papers.

Both deputies pleaded with him to comply, the detective said, and ultimately pinned him to the ground until he stopped resisting. Momentarily calm, the detective continued, Ervin was seated on the curb briefly before springing to his feet and kicking the deputy in the knee.

A homeless man living on Vashon Island, Ervin has faced a host of misdemeanor charges in the past. He was convicted of assaulting a police officer in 2012 for spitting on the deputy who arrested him on April 9.

Ervin has been charged with third-degree assault, the same felony charge of which he was convicted in the 2012 incident. He remains jailed on $15,000 bail.